Illegal electric fence kills guest worker, son in Tamil Nadu

DHARMAPURI: A guest worker from Odisha and his son were electrocuted and another man suffered burn injuries after touching an electric fence near Harur in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu on Friday night.

The deceased have been identified as R Uththam Katta, 45, and his son Abiram Katta, 20. They were working as cooks in Sikkalur village.

The incident happened on a piece of land belonging to K Elango, 49, of Sikkalur village. Elango leased his land to M Viji, 35, of the same village. Viji's father, Mani, 60, had illegally installed an electric fence around the property to safeguard the crops from wild animals.

On Friday night, Uththam Katta and his co-worker Pavithra Chandan, 42, visited a local Tasmac shop to consume liquor. While they were returning to their lodging around 10pm, they touched the electric fence, said Dharmapuri district SP S S Maheswaran. Uththam Katta died instantly while Pavithra Chandan suffered burns. He managed to reach their lodging and informed Uththam’s son Abiram Katta about the incident.

Abiram rushed to the spot to save his father and came in contact with the electric fence. He too died on the spot.

Villagers alerted the Kottapatty police. The bodies were sent for postmortem.

Pavithra Chandan was admitted to Government Hospital in Harur. His condition was reported to be stable.

The police registered a case against Mani and Viji for illegally installing the electric fence. Mani was arrested while Viji was absconding.


Check out the latest news about Delhi Election Results and the full and final winner list only on Times of India.